In April 2013, I had the opportunity to accompany the Hawaiian slack key guitar ensemble Keola Beamer and Jeff Peterson, with Moanalani Beamer, as tour manager as the group toured Brazil with the U.S. Department of State's American Music Abroad program. 

They are known as Afghanistan's "Generation America" — young people who've grown up with American forces in their midst — or at least in their country. And now they represent a vital force for their nation's future, as Afghanistan chooses a successor to President Hamid Karzai.

Authorities in Colombia’s capital Bogota have agreed to not remove graffiti as long as the street art is performed “in a responsible way,” following a meeting with graffiti artists who previously had claimed they were being persecuted.

With only a few weeks until India elects its next prime minister, the country's "demographic dividend" - the young people who provide its best hope of becoming a major economic power - is about to become its democratic dividend.

The Internet is eating up "Another View on Iran," a provocative photo essay by photographer Hossein Fatemi. The exposé gives a global audience the chance to peer into the country's more modern (or scandalous) sub-culture where men and women socialize together, drink alcohol and listen to rock music. The country bans these activities, but many citizens still participate in them. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? 

Sitting on some of the world's largest untapped oil and natural gas reserves, the region is experiencing a surge in investment and construction. Five-star hotels are dotting the skyline and luxury condo complexes with names like "American village" are opening on the outskirts of the city.

How are sectarian politics affecting the lives of those in Lebanon? After a series of bombings fuelled by sectarian tensions, citizens have taken to social media, using the hashtag #NotAMartyr to express their frustration with Lebanon’s fragile state of security and politics. We'll continue that conversation and hear what some citizens have to say about shaping their nation’s future.

Students at the Codman Academy Charter Public School in Boston were dismayed to learn that the French consulate warns tourists on its website to avoid walking at night in their Dorchester neighborhood. The consulate says it's because of crime in the area. Haley Malm, a French teacher at Codman, says the students were quite offended that Boston's Dorchester, Mattapan, and Roxbury neighborhoods were specifically targeted as places not to visit.